On The Astronomy Tower
by aprilgirl01
Summary: After Sirius runs away from home, Regulus goes up to the astronomy tower to clear his head. Unfortunately, he is not the only one there.


**Disclaimer: I don't own HP**

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Hogwarts seemed to be deserted. All of the students were tucked away in their dormitories, and even the teachers patrolling the hallways had called it a night. The sun had not risen, though the warming of the crisp, night air hinted that soon the clear night sky would give way to morning.

Regulus did not want the morning to come. He had chiseled his way into a little cranny between a suit of armor and the back wall of the astronomy tower. He was positive that he was completely invisible from every angle, unless you looked _just_ the right way. Regulus wrapped his arms tighter around himself, and looked up at the stars.

He had come up to clear his head. He couldn't stop thinking about the fight. He thought at Hogwarts, maybe, he would be able to forget, and everything would go back to normal, but no, the words kept ringing in his ears.

 _"Sirius, you are no son of mine!"_

 _"Fine! Then I'll leave. I don't want anything to do with the lot of you, anyhow."_

The slamming of the door and the silence that had followed were so much louder than the shouting that had come before. Sirius's spot next to Regulus at the Christmas dinner table was empty. And somehow, Regulus just _knew_ that this time, his brother wasn't coming back.

Footsteps echoes faintly in the distance. Some of his peers up to late-night mischief, most likely. Regulus did not want to face them. It had been three days since the Christmas Incident, and his friends in Slytherin would not stop talking about it. Sirius's departure and disowning was a scandal in the world of pure bloods.

The footsteps were louder now. Somebody was up on the astronomy tower. Regulus shrank further into his cranny, shutting his eyes and hoping that whoever it was would go away.

"Regulus?"

The voice gave Regulus a start. He bit his lip and mentally willed the speaker to leave.

"Reg, come on, I know you're up here."

The footsteps drew closer and closer to Regulus's hiding spot. Regulus opened his eyes and looked up, to see grey orbs identical to his own staring right at him, glistening in the darkness.

"Regulus."

Regulus sighed inwardly. "Sirius. What are you doing here?"

His older brother raised an eyebrow. "I could ask you the same question."

Regulus groaned. That was such a Sirius thing to do- deflect the question and turn it upon somebody else. "I'm thinking. Is that illegal, now? Now tell me, what are _you_ doing here?"

Sirius kept his gaze steady with his brother's. "Same."

That was odd. Regulus rose to his feet, and stared curiously at his brother. Sirius was dressed in pajamas that were clearly not his, and had a Gryffindor scarf wrapped around his neck. He was almost unrecognizable. A wave of bitterness washed over Regulus.

"You're also thinking, huh? Wouldn't it have done you some good to be thinking before you stormed out of our house, ruined Christmas dinner, and got yourself blasted off the tree?"

Sirius blinked. "They blasted me off?"

Regulus spoke, and there was venom in his voice. "Why should you care? It was you who said you wanted nothing to do with the lot of us, wasn't it?"

Sirius's face was mild, almost unremorseful. "Would you rather I had lied?"

Regulus almost winced, but fifteen years of living in Grimauld place had taught him how to handle his emotions properly. He decided to change the topic. "How did you know where I was?"

"Easy. I was coming up to clear my head, and I saw you walking up from the dungeons."

"So you followed me."

"Basically." Sirius shrugged. That perturbed Regulus.

"Do you need something? Because if not, do me a favor and leave. I want to be alone."

"Need something? No, I just want to talk. I thought…"

Regulus cut him off. "I don't care what you thought, Sirius. Those days are over. They ended when you left us… left _me_."

That brought a glare to Sirius's face. "So I'm supposed to repent that I left a family that was bigoted against my friends, hated me for my decisions, and constantly told me I was a disappointment? I should feel bad that I left that to go to a house where people actually liked me?"

"No." Regulus spit out. "You are supposed to repent that you ruined the peace in our family. You should feel bad that you placed your friends over your own flesh and blood. Whatever happened to loyalty, Sirius? Remember the good days? Back before you became a blood traitor, hexed your cousins in the halls, and went and made our family into a laughing stock? Remember then? Because I miss those days! I miss- I miss- I miss when you actually cared about us."

"Why should I care about you, when you clearly don't care at all about me? You talk about loyalty, you would sell your house elf if it meant more honor for the family name." Sirius was shooting daggers through his eyes.

Regulus began to see red. He hissed, "You know nothing about me. You stopped trying, you stopped caring, years before I did. So don't you dare try to pass me off as the bad guy. You're just as bad as that blood-traitor pal Potter of-"  
Quick as a viper, Sirius pulled out his wand and had it trained on Regulus. "Don't you dare," He growled, and his voice was menacing, unrecognizable from the happy boy who used to race on brooms with Regulus, "Don't you dare insult James, or any of my friends, in front of me."

Regulus eyed his brother's wand. He had his temper under control now, and was able to keep his voice even. "You wouldn't curse your own brother," he was able to spit out, with as much of a sneer as he could muster.

Sirius lowered his wand, but kept his eyes level with Regulus's. "You're not my brother."

Then, without another word, he tucked his wand back under his cloak, and swept down the stairs, off of the astronomy tower.

Regulus watched him go, the silence crashing down upon his ears. Only after Sirius left did Regulus realize he was shaking. He sat back down, no longer caring that now he was in plain sight. Where had everything gone wrong? He sighed. He wanted his brother back- not Sirius, but the boy Sirius used to be.

Only after Regulus was back in the Slytherin dormitory did the sun burst forth from the horizon, and under the lake, as he watched rays of sun stream through the water, he had no idea that in a tall tower across the castle, another grey-eyed, black haired boy was watching the same sun come up.

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 **A/N: I hope you liked it! I have this idea that I could write the same scene from Sirius's POV, if people like this one. So please review, tell me what you liked, what I can do better, and if you want me to write a partner one-shot of this.**


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